Mar 19, 2017

How to Know Whether a Sentence is Simple, Complex or Compound

Many feel that a sentence
is either simple or complex or compound based on the number of words it is made
up of. This has no doubt posit a serious problem in the identification of
sentences among learners, students and graduates of English language. Hence,
the need for this tutorial which is solely aimed at making you know when to
call a sentence 'simple', 'complex' and 'compound.'

WhatisaSentence?

A sentence is made up of
one or more clauses. It is the highest grammatical unit in the grammatical rank
scale. See the grammatical rank scale below:

In the grammatical rank
scale (as stated above), morphemes come together to form words; words come
together to form phrases/groups; phrases come together to form clauses and
clauses come together to form sentences. Hence, making the sentence the highest
grammatical unit.

TypesofSentence

Though some textbooks
will tell you that there are four types of sentence, making the 'complex
compound' the fourth type, you should know that there are only three (3) types
of sentence:

1. Simple sentence.

2. Complex sentence.

3. Compound sentence.

As we progress, I will
tell you why I said there are three types of sentence.

Simplesentence

A simple sentence is a
sentence that is made up of one main/independent/alpha clause (a clause that
can stand on its own and still make a complete sense). A simple sentence
expresses only one idea or thought.

Examples

1. The baby cried.

2. He is going to school
with his mum.

3. The guy is talking.

A sentence can be lengthy
and still be a simple sentence provided it expresses a single thought or idea.

Examples

1. The gang that snatched
the minister's car has been nabbed.

2. The boy who was
wearing the red shirt came late.

The above sentences are
simple sentences regardless of their length because they express an idea or
thought.

Complexsentence

A complex sentence is a
sentence that has at least one main/independent clause and one subordinate/dependent
clause. That is to say a complex sentence can have more than one main and
subordinate clauses.

Example:

1. When I was an
undergraduate, we were taught by Nigerians and professors.

In the sentence above, 'when
I was an undergraduate' is the subordinate or dependent clause because it
cannot stand on its own and make a complete sense. Its real meaning is
dependent on the main clause, 'we were taught by Nigerians and Professors.'

You can also have the
main clause coming before the subordinate clause.

Example:

The party chieftains
returned to rest at 1:00am as their subordinate were left to collate the
results.

In the sentence above,
you have the main clause 'the party chieftains returned to rest at 1:00am 'coming before the subordinate clause 'as their subordinate were left to collate
the results.'

A complex sentence is
also made up of two or more subordinate and main clauses.

Example:

When I was a child, I
never took my English lessons and assignments seriously because I was oblivious
of the benefits of studying hard.

The example above is what
many will refer to as 'complex compound sentence' because it comprises
two subordinate clauses ('when I was a child' and 'because I was oblivious of
the benefits of studying hard') and two main clauses ('I never took my English
lessons and 'I never took my assignments seriously'). However, I want to tell
you that this sentence is still a complex sentence irrespective of the number
of subordinate and main clauses.

A complex sentence is
complex because you have two or more clauses hat are not of equal
grammatical status.

Compoundsentence

This is a sentence that
is made up of two or more main clauses. A compound sentence comprises two or
more main/independent clauses which are linked by coordinating conjunctions. We use
the coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but) to link these clauses.

The woman returned from
the market and cooked lunched for her children.

The above sentence is a
compound sentence because it is made up of two independent clauses ('the woman
returned from the market' and 'cooked lunch for her children') that are linked
by the coordinator 'and.'

A compound sentence can
have up to three clauses or more.

Example:

The woman returned from
the market, cooked lunch for her children and went straight to bed.

In the above sentence,
you have three main clauses which are linked by the coordinator 'and.'

1. The woman returned
from the market.

2. ...cooked lunch for
her children.

3. ...went straight to
bed.

You can have all the
coordinators in a compound sentence.

Example

Tammy and Rose love
themselves but they always fight or abuse each other.

In the sentence above, you have the three coordinating conjunctions in English (and, or,
but) linking the main clauses.

In sum, it is important
to note that it is not the number of words that make a sentence simple, complex
or compound.

Hope this tutorial is
helpful. Thanks for reading!

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Tammy Reuben Is A Graduate Of English And Literary Studies Whose Love For Teaching English As A Second Language And Providing Students With Useful Educational And Secular Information Resulted In The Creation Of This Blog.